Write-in candidate says he'll test his luck

After getting kicked off the Plainfield mayoral ballot in January, resident Michael Lambert is running for mayor as a write-in candidate in next month's election. (Geoff Ziezulewicz, Chicago Tribune)

Despite being tossed off Plainfield's mayoral ballot in January, a local man will test his luck in next month's election as a write-in candidate.

Michael Lambert, 51, a lifelong Plainfield resident and owner of ARRIS Architect+ Planners, was disqualified from the ballot at an electoral board meeting in January, according to village documents.

Town officials said there were no minutes kept of the meeting.

In a 2-to-1 vote, the election hearing board found that Lambert did not have the required minimum number of valid signatures on his petition to be including on the ballot, according to Paul Fay, a village trustee who sat on the board and was the lone vote in favor of keeping Lambert on the ballot.

Some of Lambert's signees were not registered voters or had stated an incorrect address, Fay said in an e-mail.

Lambert said the challenge to his candidacy was brought forth by a local resident whom he does not know.

"It's disconcerting," said Lambert, who has over the years served as a village trustee and on the boards of the Plainfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the Village Preservation Association and a variety of similar bodies. "Someone who doesn't even know me challenged the ballot."

Lambert also questioned why the village clerk would sit on an electoral board charged with deciding who can be on a mayoral ballot.

"She is hired and fired on the advice of the incumbent mayor," he said.

Challenging the board's ruling would have been a pricey endeavor, Lambert said, so he has opted to go the write-in route and get the word out through unconventional means.

He set up a website, writeinlambert.com, which lists his experience and includes a video on how to write in a candidate on a ballot.

Lambert said he was approached by "a very diverse segment" of the village that asked him to run against incumbent Michael Collins.

"This has nothing to do with my ego," Lambert said this week in his downtown office. "I have a lot to contribute. It's time for me to step up and take a shot at it."

Lambert said he loves Plainfield because of its mix of old and new residents, as well as the town's history.

If elected, Lambert said he would work to expand Plainfield's heritage tourism.

"We've got great history here," he said. "There's a lot of communities around the region that are doing more with that."

Lambert also said he would like to foster a government culture that is more responsive to the concerns of local citizens.

He lauded the more than $7 million spent on downtown beautification, but said there was no strategy to put in place the kind of businesses that locals wanted there.

Lambert said he supports a full-time village economic development team, as well as beautification efforts that would extend beyond downtown.

Lambert also said he wants to increase the "connectivity" of the community.

Residents in the northwestern part of the village, he said, have told him they don't bother coming downtown because it's not easy to get there.

Too much time has been spent on Plainfield as a thoroughfare, instead of focusing on how residents get around their town, Lambert said.

"As the village has grown, we're a very divided community," he said. "There's always going to be pockets in the community, but how do we bring them together?"